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Azula
Azula is a dwarven cleric and is one of the adventurers who joined the expedition to find the legendary Sword of the Godslayer. Background Nobody knows where Azula came from, she claims to be from a land beyond Windcoast, although it turns out that she actually is from the mountains near Ad-Nilem. As her family were devoted to Arkaitz, a god of knowledge, craftsmanship and labor, she and her brother, Thaldan, were raised as his acolytes. She had always had an inclination towards learning, spending much of her time reading every book she could find. She and Thaldan were actually very close, although she was very annoyed by how charming and how much of a "people person" he was, while she preferred quiet and solitude. Shortly after she reached adulthood, other members of her dwarven clan began an expedition to a nearby ruined temple, serving another dwarven god. She leaped at the chance to join them, excited at the prospect of learning new things, and seeing sights that she had only read of in her books. This led to more expeditions, more ruins, more new lands, and she took a liking to the excitement of excavating old relics and recovering pieces of lost history. On one such expedition, she met another dwarf named Kavi, who shared her interests. The two became romantically involved for a while, eventually giving them a daughter, who they named Vidya. After the birth of their daughter, Kavi wanted to settle down and Azula agreed for a few years. However, the call for finding new things was too great. Soon, she left Vidya with Kavi, and set out clan to explore on her own. Guided by Arkaitz, she trekked through the wilderness to find undiscovered ruins, whether they are abandoned temples, derelict castles, or the remains of razed villages, always seeking more knowledge, recording tales for future history books. Many decades after, she was resting and restocking supplies in a mountain camp near the Citadel of Kings when she heard the prince's decree. Curious, she felt that she would like to get a look at this lost artifact for herself and thus, made her way to the city to join this new expedition. Character Information Appearance Azula is a middle-aged, female Dwarven Cleric. She is darker skinned compared to her fellow mountain dwarves, with gray eyes, and short black hair that has hardly seen a brush. Without much care for her appearance, she is often seen with dirt or grime on her hands or her face. Personality With a constant thirst for knowledge, Azula has learned much over the years, particularly with regards to history, magic, or religion. At the same time, her travels have made her well-versed in the geography and beasts of the local terrain. She knows many things and is very smug about it, though would often not teach it unless asked. She puts very little value in material wealth. Much like her fellow dwarves, she is suspicious of other races, and her time spent away from civilization has only worsened the trait. She is always wary of people that she has just met, often treating them rudely or not bothering to learn their names. For the first few weeks of their expedition, she referred to her initial companions as Elf, Human 1, and Human 2, then later addressed the additions as Other Elf and Orc. After some time, however, she grew accustomed to their presence, and has even grown to trust them. Or at least most of them. Despite her initial misgivings about other people, she still has a disposition toward helping others, albeit begrudgingly "even if she doesn't like them." For the most part, she still believes in doing things for the greater good. Goals Overall, Azula believes that knowing the past will help guide the future. She wishes to explore unknown lands and forgotten ruins, hoping to uncover pieces of the past that are yet to be known. Given recent developments on her expedition, her immediate goal is to find the black dragon, Nighith, and put a stop to his plans, while retrieving the Sword of the Godslayer. Eventually, she would also like to seek out the people behind her brother's assassination to learn the truth and avenge him if she can. The Campaign Azula was one of the first to heed the Prince of Zephyrus' call for an expedition. At the Citadel of Windcoast, she met her fellow adventurers; Lira, Nicolas and Rob. Into the Wolfswood : Main Article: Into the Wolfswood The group travelled through the Wolfswood toward the Village by the Mountain. They camped near the road at nightfall, and agreed to take turns on watch. Azula was woken by Rob for her turn around midnight. A few hours before dawn, she heard voices coming from nearby and decided to investigate. She woke up Lira, who would have taken the watch after her, and they eventually found two shadowy figures talking around a campfire. Sensing danger, the two returned to their own camp to wake the men. Rob agreed to watch over the camp, while Azula, Lira and Nicolas headed toward the disturbance. When they did, bandits appeared to attack them. They all fought back, with Rob eventually coming to help. Azula killed the last enemy with a powerful swing of her warhammer, which splintered the man's skull. Minos then revealed himself and explained that the ambush had been a test to see if they could handle themselves in a fight. When they continued toward their destination, the group was joined by a Half-Elven Monk named Nong-Poi. Arrival at the Village : Main Article: Arrival at the Village Along the road, they met a woodsman named Ashvell, who agreed to lead them to the village inn. The adventurers arrived after another day of traveling. The group met a Half-Elf named Cassana inside the inn. They rested a while, and later tried and failed to find a Half-Orc who had picked Rob's pocket. When the group returned from the village market, they witnessed an argument between Cassana and a mysterious hooded figure. Lira, Rob and Nong-Poi wanted to help Cassana, so they went to the mysterious figure's manor outside the village. Azula and Nicolas, meanwhile, stayed with Minos in the tavern. Hours later, Azula and Nicolas heard a commotion outside the inn. They found several villagers fending off five werewolves and came to their aid. Shortly after, they were joined by their other three companions. Though they killed one werewolf, the battle was interrupted by an explosion coming from inside the building. Though some of the others were knocked out, Azula managed to dodge the flying debris. Abandoned Mines : Main Article: Abandoned Mines The day after the werewolf attack, Minos told the adventurers that Cassana had been abducted by the werewolves. Worried for Cassana, Ashvell said he would accompany the adventurers to look for her. He also introduced them to a fellow villager of his, Marley, a Half-Orc that Rob immediately recognized. After a brief scuffle, Marley returned the sorcerer's gold. Cassana's uncle then allowed them to look inside the inn's cellar. They found a book written by Tullius, Cassana's father, telling the story of how he had arrived at the village and married Cassana's mother. Afterwards, three villagers led the adventurers to an abandoned mining cave, where they had found traces of the werewolves. They entered the cavern, where the villagers were suddenly turned to stone. The group quickly realized that they were under attack by a basilisk. The adventurers managed to kill the beast while averting their gaze. Azula extracted the stomach of the basilisk to cure the petrified victims, but before she could use it, the floor they were standing on collapsed. They fell several feet and landed in a pool of water. They continued to explore the cave and eventually reached a low cliff. Looking down, they could see a group of kobolds mining under the watchful eyes of a drow and a duergar. The group sneaked along the cliff until they reached a staircase, which led into a room with the kobolds' beddings. They found a narrow corridor branching from there toward the mining site. Lira and Rob returned to the cliff to attack from above, while Azula and the others followed the corridor. Marley attempted to signal the start of their attack by striking the duergar from behind, but missed. Much to her irritation, Nong-Poi somersaulted over Azula's head to help the rogue, though Azula quickly followed them into battle. Together, the group managed to kill all the enemies, including the giant spider the kobolds had summoned. The Ritual : Main Article: The Ritual After resting in the kobold's sleeping area, the group followed the corridor the spider had come from and found a prison. All the cages were empty, except for one with a drow, who they recognized as the one who had been arguing with Cassana at the inn. They freed the prisoner, who they later learned was named Otheric. He told them that cultists were using Cassana in a ritual to resurrect the Fey Queen Maev. The group eventually reached a large hall, in which they saw a bow glowing with arcane energy and an unconscious Cassana surrounded by cultists. Otheric told them that to save Cassana, they needed to bring the bow as far as they could from her. Before the group could start planning, Marley and Lira sneaked in to interrupt the ritual. When one of them was seen, Azula and the others ran into the hall to help them. In turn, Azula, Marley and Rob picked up the magic bow, but were unable to hold it for long due to its enchantment. Despite the weapon cracking ominously each time they held it, they successfully halted the ritual and kept it from the cultists. When the fight ended, the group left the cave through a staircase at the back of the hall. Just before heading for the inn, Azula used the basilisk's stomach acid to restore the petrified villagers. Later, Cassana thanked them and allowed them into her father's library. As the three who could read Elven, Azula, Lira and Nong-Poi spent a day going through the hundreds of journals. Eventually, they learned of an island temple, where Tullius and his fellow guardians of ancient relics had made their headquarters. A few days later, Nicolas found a caravan leaving for Soliton, the port city from which they could reach Tullius' temple. The caravan leader was a wood carver named Brad, who was also father to Lisa, one of the children Rob had befriended in the village. When they prepared to leave, Lisa cried and insisted on going with them. She was eventually bribed into staying with a silver piece from Azula. The group then left the village on horseback. Journey North : Main Article: Journey North On their first evening of travel to Soliton, the adventurers camped by the road to Mugendale. When Lira climbed into a tree to sleep, Azula laid her bedroll beneath it, since she was worried about the strain the bow attunement ritual had been causing the elf. Some time in the night, Lira fell out of the tree. When Azula woke up, Lira was hallucinating from her dream, and the ranger tried to stab her with a dagger. Azula quickly alerted the others, who ran to help. Marley eventually managed to grab Lira from behind, and Azula cast Command to force her to stop struggling. Rob eventually thought to pull out rope and Lira was bound. The elf struggled, but eventually fell back into quieter sleep. As the commotion settled down, they heard crying from the wood carver's wagon. The group realized that Lisa had stowed away there, and had been frightened by the noise. Rob quickly ran to comfort her. When Lira eventually woke up, she apologized to the group and told them that she had been dreaming vividly of being the previous owner of her enchanted bow, Maev. The group continued to Soliton, where they were forced to line up for inspection. The guards at the gate arcanely marked each weapon they carried, so as to later check whether they had been used to harm anyone in the city. Hesitant to enter somewhere as enclosed and crowded as the city, Azula kept to the back of the line, and only entered the gate at the others' promptings. Almost as soon as the whole group had entered the city, decorated soldiers rode up and demanded that the gates be closed. They began to enforce a curfew on the streets as well, much to the confusion of the citizens. No such curfew had existed before, even if the election of the next Burgrave was currently ongoing. As they walked the streets, they heard rumors of children disappearing, but were unable to tell if this was the reason of the suddenly strict policies. Brad led them to the docks and called in a favor with a captain, who agreed to take them to the temple island for 5,000 gold pieces. Minos gladly offered the amount, and they headed towards the ship. However, they were stopped by soldiers, who insisted that the lockdown included both land and sea travel. The captain, angered by the interruption of his trade, stormed off and left the group stranded. As they wanted to avoid being arrested for breaking the curfew, the adventurers considered sleeping in a nearby warehouse. However, before they could decide, a suspicious elf approached them and asked if they needed a boat. Using Thieves Cant, Marley confirmed that she was a thief, and shared his findings with the others. The elf led them through the sewers, until they reached a tunnel system that made up the Soliton Thieves Guild. As they walked past several doors, Azula overheard two figures whisper that if 'something' were not done that night, everyone would die. Before they could investigate this, they were met by a half-orc captain, who offered to smuggle them out of the city. As they haggled, Lira's beast companion pricked up its ears and began to snarl at a nearby man who had been watching them. Azula confirmed that he had been one of the thieves she had overheard, and they confronted him. The man, however, denied anything suspicious and said he had just wanted to match the orc captain's offer to smuggle them. He retreated into a room, and the group was unable to learn anything else. The adventurers then left for the smuggler's ship, but were required to sneak through the streets. After a few minutes though, the cry of soldiers sounded behind them, and they all ran. As they did, they were surrounded by a fog cloud, which Rob recognized as magical. Momentarily disoriented, they ended up in a short alley closed in on two sides by tall warehouses. When the cloud began to disperse, they quickly stood back to back. Azula, Nicolas and Marley guarded one side, while Lira, Rob, Nong-Poi and Minos faced the other. Soldiers came at them from both sides and demanded that they drop their weapons. Recognizing their authority, Azula immediately obeyed. After some hesitation, the others followed her example. The soldiers escorted the group away from the docks. When they reached the Burgrave's keep, they were locked in a dungeon. Marley, for his attempts to claim full responsibility of the crime, had been separated from Azula and the others in solitary confinement. Magical Items While she was with the party, Azula took care of the following items for them: *Ring of Whisper *Polymorph Staff *Bag of Holding After leaving the group, she bestowed these items on the others to keep in her absence.